


With a smile and a song

by Hanajimasama



Category: One Piece
Genre: Devil Fruits, F/M, Kitsune, OC, Origin Story, Past, Superstition, present
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-09-07 21:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20316061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hanajimasama/pseuds/Hanajimasama
Summary: How Tsukiko met the Strawhats. From the very beginning.Tags to change





	1. To the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Oc heavy. It's long, I'm sorry. I got carried away. This is the beginning. Enjoy.

West Blue, Hinokoku island, Hōrō-sha village.   
The storm that had raged throughout the day finally subsided, the rain fell much softer now and the cool night air swept across the slanted slate roof tiles and rattling the screen doors. The autumn leaves decorate the large garden and pathways, acting as a red carpet for the spirits that roam the night. The tranquil darkness broken by the lights coming from the house a top the hill above the village below. Painful cries echo through the house. 

“A boy!” the doctor announces handing the newborn to the nurse beside him. The joyous cheers from the corridor made the doctor smile, though his smile was short lived as he moved to clean up the afterbirth “There's one more. Kiyoko-sama, please prepare yourself once more.” 

Twins were born that night. Youta the son born on the 30th day of September and Tsukiko the daughter on the 1st of October.

“Twins?” 

“What a bad omen.” 

“We should consult the council” 

The village council was called immediately and the issue discussed for well into the day.   
“We have reached a decision” the elders announced to Yuudai: the father of the twins. He had sat patiently waiting to hear the news though knowledge of the village’s history, he knew what fate was to be bestowed.   
“She will have some freedom until the age of 5 on the Shichi-go-san in which she will partake in the god’s fruit and when the son will start to bear the family crest.”   
Yuudai nodded, his hands in clenched fists on his knees. Such a cruel fate to force on a child.   
“The girl will be trained in the arts and her contact with people limited. She is not to leave the confines of the temple unless it is absolutely necessary and that will be for shrine visits. When the time is right she will be offered to the gods in exchange for their continued protection on our village.” Yuudai opened his mouth to speak but was cut off quickly. 

“Be thankful, you will still have one child to cherish and love,” one of the council members piped up “you should be honoured to have a child given to the gods.”

“Yes, of course.” Yuudai said bowing low “I will inform my wife.” 

And it was decreed that the Fujisaki family only had one child that night and only one noted on their family register. Tsukiko was raised by a nursemaid whilst Youta was cared for by their doting mother. Yuudai thought it best to keep Kiyoko away from Tsukiko the sudden separation might cause his beloved wife to fall ill to grief. 

“We still have one child.” Yuudai mumbled watching his wife feed their son “One to live in the sun, to love and to cherish.” 

“Yuu, dear,” her delicate voice brought him from his thoughts “I’ve finished feeding him why don’t you come hold him.” Yuudai smiled and crossed the room kneeling beside her, he held out his hands as she placed Yuuta in his hands helping him hold the babe properly.

“He will grow to be a fine boy” he said proudly, “you brought such a healthy boy into this world. You truly are wonderful my love.” Yuudai grinned, turning to his wife, who did not share his smile “What ails you?”

“What will become of her?” she asked quietly, her voice cracking with each word “what will happen to our daughter?”   
Yuudai laid the babe in its bed before turning back to Kiyoko, reaching to touch her hands softly “Kiyoko, she was born to be an aid to the god-”

“No! She was born to be loved! She’s just a child. That’s what the shrine maidens are for-” 

“Please, you know this villages beliefs. Twins are a-”

“Then we’ll leave. Take both children and flee.” Kiyoko announced firmly, 

“We can’t. We wouldn’t get off the island, you know that.” Yuudai caressed her face softly wiping the tears away “We still have Youta. Tsu- She will be well cared for. She will ascend to the gods-”

“They are going to kill her!” Kiyoko cried clinging to his haori, Yuudai took hold of her hands pulling them from his clothes and smiled at her as best he could.

“She is going to shed her mortal form and live beside the goddess that protects us all. She’ll become a deity in her own right.” Yuudai tried to rephrase it so it didn’t sound so bad but it brought her no happiness only more grief. 

“I don’t want her to be a deity! I want her to live and be happy!” Yuudai pulled his wife into his embrace as she sobbed loudly, there was nothing he could do to prevent their daughter’s fate. But he would protect his precious wife and son. It was all he could do. 

-

The day of the Shichi-go-san came all too quickly. The twins grew up separately, with very little interaction with each other. The Shichi-go-san was on their fifth year, it was mostly for boys to celebrate the day they were permitted to carry the family crest.   
Whilst the boys played and celebrated. Tsukiko was bathed, purified and dressed in a fine kimono, her hair carefully brushed a perfumed, a white kitsune mask placed on top at an angle. She was led up the steps through the red torii tunnel up to the shrine that sat at the base of the mountain. 

The ritual room was long and narrow, dimly lit by candles. The altar that sat at the far end of the room had a red torri beam over it and a round object sat on a red cushion, it looked like a temari ball from a distance. Tsukiko was guided into the room. There were six shrine maidens present and three sat either side of the room, all in the standard red hakama and white kosode and they all wore fox masks. The head priestess stood by the altar and began the ceremony. 

“Today you become a servant of our beloved goddess Amaretsu, who loves and protects us. Taste of the fruit of the gods and cast off your human skin and become a disciple of our goddess.”

Little Tsukiko shuffled forward to take the perfectly round fruit from the altar and nervously took a single bite out of it. The candles flickered as a strong wind rattled the screen doors. The fruit fell to the floor with a thud and rolled away. Tsukiko sat in the centre of the room looking at her hands which now bore sharp claws. She screamed in pain as her body went through a series of transformation. First the fox ears sprung forth from her head, her teeth sharpened, black eyes became a bright amber, one tail: which caused a sudden murmur of happiness from the priestess, but when one became five the fear started to set in.

“Get the sealing wards!” The head priestess ordered as the number of tails increased to seven. The girl in front of them was no more. A large fox the size of a sheep and as black as ebony stood before them, the air grew hot as flames seemed to radiate from it’s fur. An eighth tail formed. “HURRY!” 

“Priestess!” the maidens quickly surrounded and tossed crimson chains over the beast, it let out a high pitch scream, halting the maidens in their tracks, the world around them seemed to shiver and twist. 

“Do not falter! We cannot let a ninth tail happen” 

The fox fell to the floor the chains taking its toll on it, “The shackles quickly.” the shrine maidens moved forward snapping heavy red shackles around it’s legs. This completely subdued the beast. The miko sighed with relief. “There is no time for celebrations we need to get it to the purifying pool just in case. Hurry, before it wakes and mind it’s claws.” carefully the maidens lift the fox and hurry towards the purification room. 

Room only in name. It was an underground pool of salt water inside the mountain, the cavern had an air vent through to open skies, allowing the moon to shine down and illuminate the area. The miko waded into the waist deep pool and floated the fox across the water to shackle it to a rock in the centre, keeping it partially submerged. Be it the moons healing nature or the girl’s complete fatigue, the fox finally vanished. 

“Leave her, we must be sure the beast has been calmed. Two of you guard her. I will consult the council.” The head priestess did not get far as the cave door was forced open, “Lady Kiyoko-”

“Where is she?” Kiyoko let out a horrified scream when her eyes fell upon her daughter shackled to a rock “How dare you! She is just a child!” 

“My lady please, it is no longer just a child. The goddess has granted it more power than we anticipated. We must keep it bound- My lady please!” the priestess’s pleas couldn’t stop the mother wading into the pool. 

“Tsukiko?” Kiyoko said quietly touching the girl’s face “unchain her at once!” 

“We cannot-”

“She is a child. This is madness!” Kiyoko snapped slipping an arm around her child and trying to gently wake her “Tsukiko?” the child stirred looking up at Kiyoko with bright amber eyes. Her heart sank, what had they done?

“Mama-” Tsukiko choked out,

“That’s right. Mama is here.” Kiyoko held her daughter tightly, she could not abandon her child even if they had turned her daughter into a monster.


	2. Hanabi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Festivals and harbingers of ill omens...  
From one cage to another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading again.

Part 2:

Five years slowly rolled by. Tsukiko was kept isolated from the outside world was given a strict education: classical dancing, singing, calligraphy, poetry and most important scriptures of the goddess. 

Graced by the presence of her beloved mother every evening for the first few months after the incident but then it soon became once a week and then once a fortnight and then once a month and sometimes longer with poorly given excuses. 

“Okaa-sama-“ Tsukiko laid on her mothers lap looking out at the evening sky “why are you afraid?”

She laughed nervously “Nonsense my dear child. Why would I be afraid?” 

Tsukiko sat up and looked out of the open screen doors to the rock garden outside of her room “Because I am a monster” she said without looking back at her mother “I heard you say it to one of the miko. It’s why your visits are less frequent.”

“Tsukiko-“

Turning to look over her shoulder at her mother with a weak smile and eyes that glowed bright in the moonlight “Please. Cease your visits if it causes you so much pain.” She watched her mother rise to her feet and slowly walked towards the door, resting her hand on the screen door,

“I am sorry I brought such a fate upon you. I just wanted you to be happy.”

Tsukiko turned her back to her mother, her heart hurt terribly. “It’s alright. My job is to entertain the goddess, it is a high honour. They say I’ll see her eventually.” The screen door slide open and then clicked shut. Tsukiko stared up at the moon as tears rolled down her cheeks. She had gotten used to people looking at her with fear but it was different when it was her own mother and it was probably the last time she would see her mother. 

After that Tsukiko gave every second of her life to the lessons. Even if her mother could not bare to look upon her, she would strive to make her proud. 

Two more years passed and Tsukiko became revered but in equal parts feared. The only one that didn’t seem to fear her was the miko assigned to her: Moriko

She was the only person that treat Tsukiko as a person rather than a monster. 

“It’s almost your birthday Tsukiko-dono,” Moriko said happily closing the door behind her as she entered with the evening meal. “Is there anything you would like?”

“You know I don’t need anything, Tsukiko replied with a smile turning to face Moriko as the tray was set before her.

“I know you would like to go to the festival” Moriko retorted with a quiet chuckle,

Tsukiko swallowed her soup too quickly sending her into a coughing fit “And you know I am forbidden to even step foot outside the temple.”

“It’s going to be busy. It’ll just be us here, so nobody will even know you’re gone and it’ll just be for a few hours.” Moriko explained with a sheepish grin “I already have yukatas and masks prepared” 

“You’ll get into trouble”

“Only if we get caught and besides, not a lot of people know what you look like so we’ll be fine.” Tsukiko sighed with a smile, Moriko wasn’t going to back down.

“Very well.”

-

The eve of the festival came around quickly. Tsukiko was excited and anxious for the event. She had never been to one, she wasn’t allowed. Moriko helped her into the dark purple yukata with a brightly coloured tamari design on it, tied up her long hair in an elaborate updo and handed her a very apt Fox mask setting it at a jaunty angle on top of her head. “Let’s go” she said with a bright smile.

They used a secret path from the temple and headed down the mountain path to the little town below. Lights could be seen from the darkness of the forest and as they exited the forest Tsukiko was in awe. Her heart beat quickly as she gazed upon the bustling town, so bright as if it were noon. Moriko took her hand and guided Tsukiko into the festival. So many lights and sounds, it made her head spin. 

Moriko took her to some of the food stalls introducing her to many new delicious delicacies. 

They hurried through the crowds visiting as many stalls as possible. Hand in hand laughing all the way. They stopped at a little stage where villagers were singing joyfully. 

“Am I allowed to sing? Just once?” Tsukiko asked hopefully, singing at the temple was so strict and boring. These people looked like they were having fun. 

“Just one song and then we really need to head back” Moriko warned as they approached the man at the foot of the stage.

“Of course you can sing.” 

Tsukiko told the man what song she wanted to sing and waited patiently for her turn to ascend to the stage. She took a deep breath as she stood in the centre of the stage looking down on the audience below, she saw Moriko give a cheery wave. Tsukiko smiled, she was allowed to sing freely and as loudly as she wanted. This new taste of freedom flowed through her voice as she performed. Dancing as well out of habit. Like a moth to the flame Tsukiko reveled in this new found freedom and poured all her energy into her song. They applauded, they liked her, they weren’t afraid. For the first time they looked at her without fear. She descended the stairs as Moriko ran towards her excitedly. 

“That was wonderful-“ they both jumped suddenly as the sound of fireworks boomed loudly overheard. 

“Oh fireworks!” Tsukiko looked up excitedly.

Moriko didn’t share in her delight and looked quite scared. “We need to get back to the temple now.” She said in a panic pulling on Tsukiko’s hand as a firework impacted on a nearby building, several more following. Moriko yelped in panic and pulled Tsukiko through the startled crowds. As the booming noises and panicked shouting and screams intensified, Tsukiko felt so overwhelmed, her chest was tight she couldn’t breath. She succumbed to her knees holding her head tensing at every loud explosion. Moriko knelt beside her, “Please we can’t stop-“ there were audible gasps amists the explosion. Tsukiko couldn’t control her transformations during bouts of panic and her fox ears and two tails had made their appearance. Just as two houses burst into flames. 

“A kitsune-“

“She came to curse us!”

“She sang us a song of death!”

Tsukiko recoiled as a stone hit her in the side of the head “Begone demon!”

“What are you doing outside the temple?!” Tsukiko looked up to see a boy with the same face as her, she had seen him several times and knew well who he was. 

“Onii-sama! Please I-“

“Please, Youdai-sama. It’s my fault!” Moriko threw herself to her knees and bowed low “Please! I just wanted her to experience some happiness before-“ she stammered and couldn’t finish her sentence.

_ Before what? _

  
  


Youdai frowned walking past Moriko “You did nothing wrong, you were tricked by a dangerous monster.” He moved his gaze to Tsukiko. 

“Look at the damage you have brought upon this poor unfortunate town! Look what you've done!” He shouted, gesturing to the ablaze town around them. 

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean to- I -‘’ Tsukiko cowered as several more explosions happened and smoke filled the streets. She stumbled to her feet and ran blindly, coughing and spluttering, if she could get back to the temple it would be okay. She could apologise, she would probably get punished for leaving in the first place though. She stumbled into the cold night air, the sound of the ocean waves filled her ears. Collapsing to her knees sobbing loudly. 

“Poor little girl. Do you need help?” She glanced up to see a tall man in a sharp suit smiling down at her with two well dressed men behind him. 

“I’m lost, I need to go to the temple” she choked out

“Wait I recognise you, I saw you sing just a little while ago. Come with me, you’d be able to sing forever” He offered holding out his hand “Don’t you want to see the world outside of this cooped up little town?”

She did want to be free. Now she had tasted freedom, she wanted it more. She couldn’t stay here, she had cursed them all perhaps if she left she could save them. Rubbing the tears from her eyes she reached to accept his hand. 

“Welcome to our happy little family” he smiled at her with a hint of something else that didn’t feel quite right.

Hōrō-sha Village  burnt that night, the survivors say that it was a curse brought upon them by their goddess. 

But the truth was something different. 

_

Tsukiko soon realised her free new life would be just as confined as the last. From one gilded cage to another. Though at least this time she could see the world outside her room. She was introduced to the others in the ‘family’. She would be joining a newly formed idol group with two other zoan types: Hibiki a dog type: model Shiba and Kotone a cat type zoan. 

They had been picked up from the slave market. All three girls were the same age and together they kept their spirits up. It was all they could do.

Day after day they practised songs and difficult routines, were pinned and prodded for their outfits, kept on a strict diet and all while wearing sea prism cuffs to stop them running away. They did become accustomed to wearing such things, though Tsukiko had been wearing them for as long as she could remember but in the form of jewellery. 

They made their debut on when Hibiki turned fifteen. Their owner: or manager as he preferred to be called set them a big stage up on the Shabondy archipelago where they would be seen by many and so began their life on the stage. They had a traditional theme about them and their zoan features made them even more popular. 

There was never a moment's rest, they sang, they trained, they traveled and trained during those periods, meeting fans and all while keeping up their smiles for their audience. Five years flew by and it finally took its toll.

“I can’t do it anymore’ Kotone sobbed one night they got back to their room “I’m tired” Tsukiko moved to comfort her pulling her into her arms stroking her hair softly. 

“I know. We all are but we what choice do we have?”

“There has to be somewhere else.” Hibiki said sitting on the other side of Kotone leaning on her “I’d be fine if it were somewhere with you two.” They all jumped when their door opened, their greasy looking manager.

“Tsukiko, come now.” He ordered sharply.

“But-“

“Now!”

“Yes sir” Tsukiko quickly followed him out the room and was ushered into the dressing room, the make up artist quickly pulled her into the chair and started work, 

“Make it simple and classy.” He barked learning against the door “and hurry!” He snapped. She was dressed in a royal purple kimono with a simple gold Sakura pattern on it, a simple updo with a few strands framing her face and a gold Sakura hairpin to match her kimono.

Once she was completely done up, she followed the manager “Sir-“

“Listen and listen good. A warlord wants a private meeting with you.” Tsukiko froze, a warlord? What would a dangerous and important person want with her? “You will do as instructed. Whatever they want, I don’t care. You aim to please. Do I make myself clear?” He explained impatiently.

“-Yes sir..”

He opened the door a little “Sir, I present our lovely Tsukiko” he opened the door wider and she stepped in kneeling to bow to the warlord, 

“It’s an honour sir.”

“You may leave” came a deep voice, it was deeper than the oceans but smooth like honey. The manger apologised and left closing the door quickly. Tsukiko sat up straight and looked at the towering man sat on the velvet couch, a large gold hook that glistened in the dark light sat on his lap, a sharp two piece pinstripe suit and the fur coat made him even more imposing and then she got a good look at his face, slicked back dark hair, piercing eyes and a scar which travelled across his face..

This warlord she had heard about: Sir Crocodile. 

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
